Not what he said
by charlotteicewolf77
Summary: What Joe said about delivering the bottles of black market whisky to the judge when Mainwaring was accused wasn't actually the truth. None of them ever imagined that the consequences would ever be this bad. Set a couple of days after the episode where Mainwaring is sent to court for allegedly leaving the light on.
1. Chapter 1

NOT WHAT HE SAID

SUMMARY= What Joe said about delivering the bottles of black market whisky to the judge when Mainwaring was accused wasn't actually the truth. None of them ever imagined that the consequences would ever be this bad.

A/N: was watching a clip from the accused where Walker was testifying that Mainwaring didn't leave the church light on and this just popped into my head. Also sorry for any historical inaccuracy :s

~0~

When Captain Mainwaring ordered the soldiers to fall in the day after he had been cleared of leaving the light on during the blackout he noticed that everyone was present except for Walker.

"Anyone know where Walker is?" he asked the troops. Just then the phone rang, "Go answer the phone Pike. And remove your scarf!" Pike went, grumbling about how his mum said he should never remove his precious scarf.

"Very well men," Mainwaring said, "you will be pleased to hear that HQ are sending us more supplies of bullets," he stopped while the men let out a cheer, "so fortunately we will not have to rely on Walker to supply us with ammunition for the foreseeable future."

"Och, he only coerced HQ into sending us more ammo because he was fed up of paying Joe five bob for every 20 rounds he got." Fraser muttered under his breath but fortunately Captain Mainwaring didn't hear him or chose to ignore his comment.

Just as the captain was about to continue speaking, Pike rushed in from the office with his face pale and anxious. "Captain Mainwaring, Captain Mainwaring! Joe's been in an accident come quick!" he cried fearfully.

"Pike calm down!" Mainwaring ordered, unable to understand a word the baby-faced soldier was telling him. "What's this about Private Walker?"

"He's been in an accident or something sir! The hospital was the one on the phone and they said that he was in a bad way and we got to go see him Captain Mainwaring, he doesn't have any family!" Pike pleaded.

"Did they say how he was?" Mainwaring fought to keep his calm as anxious mutterings broke out among the men.

"No sir, but we got to go Mr Mainwaring, he doesn't have any other family!" Pike repeated desperately.

"The boy's right sir, we cannae leave Walker all alone in a hospital bed!" Fraser spoke up.

"Mr Fraser is right you know sir," Jones told Mainwaring, "why I remember in the Sudan sir, lots of soldiers got killed in the Sudan sir and a lot of them got injured too, and me and the soldiers when we could we always used to go to the medical tent whenever we had a bit of time sir and make sure they were alright sir, it really lifted their spirits right back up sir."

"Yes, you're right," Mainwaring considered what to do next, "very well, Private Sponge you and your section shall do parade tonight, the rest of us shall go and see what is going on with Walker at the hospital."

~0~

"Hey Uncle Arthur," Pike whispered.

"Yes, what is it Frank?"

"Do you think Joe's OK?" Frank whispered, "The lady on the phone sounded really sincere like in that movie The Dead of Night with Michael Smith and Gwyneth Lynn when the nurse telephone Lynn to tell her that her husband was dead."

"Don't be silly Frank," Arthur chided him, "If Walker was dead he would be in the morgue wouldn't he, not the hospital."

"But what if he dies?"

"Everyone dies Frank, but Walker isn't going to be meeting his maker for a long while yet." Wilson reassured the boy, "Now shush, we're here."

~0~

Platoon A of Walmington-on-Sea's home guard stood silently around the bed where Joe Walker lay unconscious, the only indication he was still alive being the faint rising and falling motion of the thin bed sheet that was covering him, its stark whiteness only making him seem even paler than he already was.

"What happened to him Captain Mainwaring?" Fraser asked for the rest of them, his voice hoarse and eyes suspiciously bright.

The captain let out a sigh from where he was sitting next to the bed, "No-one really knows I'm afraid, the doctor explained that Walker was walking to the church hall when he was brutally set upon by a group of unidentified men, the attack continued for several minuites before anybody came to Walker's aid and brought him here. According to the doctor he's sustained several broken ribs, two severe blows to the head- either from kicks or being banged against the ground- along with other cuts, lacerations, bruises and what look like some stab wounds."

The men said nothing, all of them feeling slightly sick.

"He's going to be alright though isn't he?" Pike asked.

"Don't be stupid Pike; this is Joe we're on about! He's a fighter is our Joe, he'll be absolutely fine and dandy in no time!" Jones cried out, although it sounded as though he was trying to convince himself as well. It didn't fail to escape Pike that Mainwaring hadn't answered his question but he let it go.

"He has no family you say?" Wilson spoke aloud for the first time since entering the room.

"No," Pike replied.

"None at all?" Mainwaring asked incredulous. Pike shook his head from side to sir.

"No Mr Mainwaring, he told me so. His mum died shortly after he was born and his grandparents died before he was born. His dad had another child but she died on Joe's tenth birthday."

"And his father died as well did he?" the captain asked.

"No sir, he's still alive but…" Pike trailed off and bit his lip.

"Well carry on then boy!" Mainwaring told him.

"I'm not sure I should sir, he never told me I could tell anyone else."

"Did he ever say that you shouldn't?"

"No sir."

"Then continue!"

Pike looked across at Joe who was still unconscious in the bed and bit his lip once more. "Well Joe's dad sir, he was a drinker from even before he was born. He used to hit Joe a lot, especially with his belt but… he didn't have to be drunk to be harsh."

"Are you saying that Walker's father was abusive?" Mainwaring asked the younger soldier. Pike nodded.

"Betty, that was Joe's sister sir, Joe used to look after her and get her food and to school on time except that they didn't have hardly any money because his dad would spend a lot of it on alcohol and that's how Joe got into… certain things sir and he used to give Betty his food so she wouldn't be hungry sir. Then one day sir, she and some friends were playing in the fields near the station and some girls who went to the same school who were quite mean to the younger kids started to chase them and Betty and her friends ran all the way to the train station and down but Betty tripped on a loose brick and fell on the track and twisted her ankle and couldn't get up. Then a train came and…" Pike stopped and Mainwaring felt sick.

"Och, how do you know all this?" Fraser asked him.

"Joe told me, when we had to go to that training thing and we were put in the same tent he woke me up because we had to share a sleeping bag because mine was so thin and he had this most awful nightmare, tossing and turning and shouting. I asked him what he was dreaming about and he told me while we played cards."

"Permission to speak sir?" Jones asked the captain.

"Yes corporal?"

"Well sir, it seems to me like we've all been wrong about Walker, I apologise for any incorrect assumptions sir but we never thought that there was anything underneath the face he showed to the world and we did him a great injustice and I for one would like to apologise to you sir as clearly we haven't been as close a platoon and team as we all like to think."

"It's not just you that has to apologise Jones," Mainwaring sighed, "it seems to me that with the exception of Pike, none of us bothered to get to know Walker and let it also be said that nothing goes outside these four walls understand? And we certainly don't tell Walker we know about his childhood. Are we agreed men?"

There was a collective murmuring from the small group as they nodded affirmatives.

"Then I suggest we all go home for the night, I'll arrange for the hospital to call if there's any change."

"I'm staying here." Pike told him, "It doesn't seem right to leave Joe all alone, what if he has a nightmare? I might have to wake him up again and the hospital people will wake him up all wrong."

Mainwaring said nothing about the naivety of Pike's gesture but nodded his consent, "Technically Pike we're off duty and you're a consenting adult, I have no power over what you do in your spare time."

"I'll tell your mother where you are." Wilson told Frank who nodded and settled himself down in the chair previously occupied by the captain.

~0~

Mavis placed a plate of food in front of Arthur before settling behind her own and tucking in. "What's got you so miserable then?" she asked as she cut her sausage into two. "And where is Frank?"

"Walker was attacked on his way to parade and Frank insisted on staying with him." Arthur explained, rubbing a weary hand across his face before tucking in himself.

Mavis' mood suddenly changed to anxious and was mirrored by her expression, "Arthur." She began suddenly.

"Yes, what is it?"

"Well you know what you told me about Joe bailing Mr Mainwaring out on the lights charge yesterday because he had evidence that could incriminate the judge?"

"Yes. I remember what about it?"

"Well Joe wasn't at the judge's house that night." Mavis told him with tears welling up.

"What?" Arthur demanded bewildered, "How do you know?"

"Because he was here!" the woman cried out, now on the definite verge of tears, "he was bringing me some more elastic."

"So what he said about the whisky in court was a lie?" she could only nod. "I have to tell Mr Mainwaring, I'll see you later." He picked up his coat and left.

~0~

The home guard were gathered in the church hall for the second time that night and were silent as they listened to what Mr Mainwaring had to say.

"So, it is quite clear," Mainwaring finished, "That Walker made up what he said about delivering black market whisky to the judge to exonerate me."

"He cares about us more than we thought." Fraser said glumly, with no hint of his ever present Scottish pronunciations.

"Indeed." Mainwaring nodded, "And because of his loyalty Walker is currently lying in a hospital bed and when he wakes up will be in a lot of pain."

"I'll quite happily use my bayonet on that Yateman!" Corporal Jones fumed, "they don't like it up 'em sir! They don't like it up 'em! If he hadn't gotten you arrested Captain Mainwaring then Joe would never have been pit in a position where he needed to lie and that judge would never have got people to attack Joe!"

"I'm sure you are feeling what I don't doubt the rest of us are feeling too Jones." The captain told him sincerely, "But we must simply support Walker not only as a colleague but a trusted and important friend. Are we in agreement?"

Everyone on the platoon nodded while Jones and Fraser plotted their revenge on the clergyman, they would support their friend that much was for sure.


	2. Chapter 2

This chapter is for bobisatoryplant who thought that there should be another chapter, it just happened that I'm on holiday and have nothing to do and am in pain from kind of falling on my shoulder from falling off a bunk bed after hanging upside down playing batman with my cousin. I'll never learn :)

~0~

Jones and Fraser spied on Yateman as he left the church hall for the night, thankfully turning the lights off this time as he locked the door behind him, "Och, you ready Jonesy?" Fraser whispered.

"Ready and willing," he replied.

The two set off and Jones started to pick the lock with the hairpin he had borrowed from Mrs Fox, "I sure wish Walker was here," the Scotsman whispered, "he would be in and out of here in less time than it takes us to get halfway done with opening this door."

"What's going to happen when he wakes up?" he asked. "He's going to need help and he hasn't got anyone at home."

"Knowing Spikey, he'll somehow convince his mother to let Walker stay with them until he's back on his feet."

"Oh, Walker won't accept that, Mr Fraser, oh no, he won't accept that. He'll just soldier on, surviving."

"He's the nicest spiv that I've ever met," Fraser grumbled. The lock clicked and the pair entered, carefully slipping inside the church.

"What do we do now?" Jones asked, he had only been told that Fraser had a plan and he would learn more about it when they were inside the church.

"Birthday present from Joe last year, gave me a way to contact a bloke called Randy who was in the printing business. I called him and got him to print a few posters out for me," he lit a candle and held out a copy.

**ATTENTION**

**THE CLERGYMAN YOU ALL KNOW AND LOVE, MR YATEMAN, IS THE REASON THAT PRIVATE WALKER OF THE HOME GUARD OF WALMINGTON-ON-SEA IS CURRENTLY LAYING UNCONSCIOUS IN A HOSPITAL BED SEVERELY INJURED AFTER HE WAS ATTACKED.**

**HE WAS ATTACKED BY MEN WHO WERE HIRED BY THE JUDGE BECAUSE WALKER MADE UP A LIE ABOUT THE JUDGE BUYING BLACKMARKET WHISKEY FROM HIM ON A PARTICULAR NIGHT THAT YATEMAN LEFT THE CHURCH LIGHTS ON. HE DID THIS BECAUSE HE WAS TRYING TO EXONERATE CAPTAIN MAINWARING FROM CHARGES OF BREACHING BLACKOUT RULES.**

**IT'S BECAUSE OF YATEMAN THAT WALKER IS LAYING UNCONSCIOUS IN A HOSPITAL BED, DO YOU REALLY WANT HIM AS THE CLERGYMAN OF YOUR TOWN? HONESTLY?**

"Private Sponge is going to be putting several of them up on his way home to the farm and all the other men are spreading them," Fraser smirked, "pretty soon the whole of Walmington-On-Sea will know what happened."

"Why Mr Fraser, you are a genius!" Jones said happily. He received a grin in return and they started to pin the papers to the church noticeboard.

~0~

The first thing Walker noticed when he blearily opened his eyes was pain. A lot of pain coursing through his entire body, it felt a lot like when he had gotten appendicitis when he was eight and his dad had been too drunk to take him to hospital and he had refused to let Betty go and get help from the neighbours until he almost passed out.

Betty… he missed her, she had been the only good thing in his life. After she died he had run away to the streets where he already had practically lived anyway then when he turned 18 he had somehow managed to end up in Walmington-On-Sea.

And did he hurt right now, what happened? He had been on his way to parade, where was he now? A sleepy groan sounded from somewhere beside him and he blinked and realised he was looking up at a ceiling. A ceiling much like the ones that he had seen several times after his dad had thrown a bottle at him. Oh God, he was in hospital!

Another groan sounded and he shoved himself up onto his elbows, biting back a whimper as he spotted Pike asleep in a chair, "Spikey," he muttered, gingerly shaking him. He liked Pike, in some ways he reminded him of Betty, young and naïve and innocent.

The young boy jerked awake and couldn't help the relieved grin that spread over his face when he saw the elder sitting there, "Joe! You're ok!" he cried happily.

"Course I am, I'm always ok Spikey, what happened?"

His face fell, "You got attacked Joe, you were on your way to parade when some men attacked you. You got stabbed and cut and had your head banged against the ground and everything! How are you feeling?"

"I'll be fine after some aspirin and I get the hell out of here. Hospitals don't hold very nice memories for me," Frank nodded, remembering what Joe had told him in the tent that night whilst they played cards.

"You're going to be ok Joe, Mr Mainwaring knows you lied about selling whiskey on that particular night to exonerate him and he isn't angry, I think he was quite touched actually but he would never let it show. Mr Fraser came up with a brilliant idea to get back at Mr Yateman for leaving the light on, look!" a rustling noise and suddenly a sheet of paper with big bold black capital letters on it was shoved under his nose. He read it and grinned, clearly the Scotsman had used his birthday gift then.

"You're going to be ok Joe," Frank said resolutely, "we're all going to look after you; Mum said she doesn't mind going without extra milk and sugar for a little while."

Joe couldn't help but grin as he leant back on the pillow as the young teen went to get the doctor, he wasn't used to this caring lark- all his life he had been the caregiver, this was a scary new experience for him. But somehow, he didn't recovering would be too bad.

Not with such good friends looking after him anyway.


End file.
